So What is exactly the smog laws for rx7's? i picked up a 93 rx7 shell the other day that was last registered in colorado and been looking at engines. I have friends saying that any stock 93+ rx7 motor will work usdm, jdm. Then the state ref says only California engines will work. After that the Mazda dealer looks up my vin # and says any federal motor will work.... I'm very new to mazda's and rotary engines so I'm in need of some help of what the actual law is.. I tried to google it but kept just getting LS1/2 swaps info on California smog laws..

Thanks

 

I'm no expert on this topic but all 13B REW engines are the same as far as I understand. There is one vendor on the forum that sells JDM engines fyi. Most of the US vs JDM parts differ in regards to emissions stuff and don't offer any real power benefit and some turbo control parts. A used engine is always a crap shoot.

You may want to search the 3rd gen section for JDM engines to learn more. Also Mahjik had a long thread where he used a JDM engine in his build.

 

Thanks for the reply man. Tried googleing to find the answer, so thought i'd ask the pros haha. ill look for that vendor and more into the emissions if i come across it.

 

I believe there is a special CA ecu for FD's. Not sure if there are other emissions related parts. If you're putting an FD engine into an FD, you should be able to go to a regular smog shop and avoid the state ref. They should be less picky. For the visual inspection, they'll probably look for stock parts. Anything shiny will arouse suspicion. Technically, the engine should be newer than the car, but rotaries aren't marked with vin's or anything, so they won't be able to tell. I brought a FC from Maryland and smogged it here. Luckily no there's no check engine light, so it was just a visual and sniffer test.

 

Thanks RX, i was looking more into it and said i'd need a California egr valve to? would that mean i'd have to grab a California engine harness to, since the egr has some kind of wiring hooked up to it? i noticed the ecu that came with the car is the California model (thank god) so i'm clear on that part. I'm just seeing what parts im having to buy.

 

I am not super knowledgeable on the fd model specifics, but looks like you nailed it with the egr +sensor system. At most, you might need to swap your egr to a california one with the plug. I would just wire it in to the ecu plug rather than replace the whole harness. As long as it doesn't throw a code, I don't see it being a problem. Then it will come down to making it run well enough to pass the sniffer.
This is the thread where I got some info. https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/how-determine-type-ecu-164325/

 

Visually you'll need to make sure the car is stock. You'll also need to make sure you have the appropriate catalytic converters, your EGR and Air-pump systems are working as intended.

If the car is out of state it will still be ok for CA. However if any tom-foolery has happened in the sense that the turbos, downpipe are aftermarket, it's is crazy tuned and has all kinds of non-carb exempt parts on it, it won't smog.

 

Thanks guys, yeah as of right now it still has the colorado title on it. Has basically everything but the downpipe with the cats, engine, vapor canister, air filters, intercoolers ect... so i'm just seeing what kind of project im really getting into emissions wise. Alot of usefull information i've been reading the last few days along with the links you sent me have helped alot.

 

I moved to Ca from Co. If none of that works and you really don't want to/can't register here, keep the car registered in relatives name in colorado. They are not citizens of Ca. and are therefore not obligated to register it here. This is especially easy if you are an out of state student. Sounds kind of shady but its a last resort.

 

Man i wish i had family in colorado or out of state, but the previous owner was from Co.

 

How different is the jdm stock downpipe from the usdm? i noticed both had the oxygen sensor, and in the manual the usdm one looked a bit bigger?

 

JDM engines do not have an EGR valve, '93 california emissions requires EGR.

you can simply get a USDM lower intake manifold that has the EGR on it, the Jspec engines themselves are no different than USDM engines.

stock there is no downpipe, it is a pre-cat which has a catalyst inside and is rather large. JDM motors usually come with it removed and a downpipe installed or no exhaust at all. for california emissions to be 100% legal you need the stock pre-cat which is rather difficult to find in good usable condition.

 

Thanks Karack, sounds like im going to have a fun time hunting a pre-cat down then haha

 

well you can buy them new still but you really don't want to know how much they cost..

 

you might wana call lucky 7 they are good and very cool people i sold them a ca spec engine maybe you would like have them rebuild that or maybe they have one already rebuild. they have all the parts you may need i sold everything also transmission. here is the number 6263531352 ask for fris. tell them raffy referred you.


p.s. dont buy a jdm engine you'll have alot of problems. i did that and ended up costing more and i have to have lucky 7 rebuild it. they are only good for parts.
hope this helps you and work hard to buy all the parts its a money pit!

 

was wondering on this info aswell, thanks guys